New Delhi: Retail inflation rose to 6.3% in May, breaching the Reserve Bank of India’s comfort level, on the back of costlier food items, government data showed on Monday.
The Consumer Price Index (CPI)-based inflation stood at 4.23% in April.
As per the data released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), inflation in the food basket was 5.01% in May, significantly up from 1.96% in the preceding month.
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The government has asked the RBI to keep the retail inflation at 4% with a margin of 2% on either side.
The RBI, which mainly factors in retail inflation while arriving at its monetary policy, had left the key interest rate unchanged earlier this month.
The central bank has projected the CPI inflation at 5.1% during 2021-22 – 5.2% in Q1; 5.4% in Q2; 4.7% in Q3; and 5.3% in Q4 of 2021-22, with risks broadly balanced.
(PTI)